On 30 August 2001, approximately 80,000 people living in West Virginia and Ohio states filed a class-action lawsuit, alleging that DuPont’s Washington Works Plant in Washington, West Virginia, had contaminated the local water supplies with perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, in Jack W. Leach, et al. v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (2005), hereafter Leach v. du Pont. PFOA is a human-made chemical, part of the PFAS family, more commonly called forever chemicals. PFOA plays a fundamental role in the production of materials like Teflon and nonstick and stain-resistant consumer products. The plaintiffs of the case alleged that DuPont failed to contain or warn the residents about the dangers of PFOA, which can include hormone disruptions, cancers, and pregnancy complications. The case led to a settlement in 2005 in which DuPont agreed to pay 70 million US dollars in class benefits, and also prompted changes in policy designed to protect individuals and communities from the dangers of PFOA and other forever chemicals.

During a thirteen-month period between 2005 and 2006, over 69,000 people across Ohio and West Virginia gave samples of blood and answered surveys as part of the C8 Health Project, a medical monitoring program studying chemical pollutants. Researchers with the C8 Science Panel then analyzed the data from the C8 Health Project. Over the next eight years, the C8 Health Project and C8 Science Panel operated jointly as a scientific institution formed through a court order to determine what ill health effects a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, can cause to the human body. The C8 Science Panel determined that there is a probable link between PFOA exposure and pregnancy-induced high blood pressure, testicular cancer, high cholesterol, and several other diseases. The work of the C8 Health Project and C8 Science Panel led to a personal-injury settlement against the DuPont chemical company, shaped public policy, and influenced future investigations into the health effects of similar chemicals.